


that which rises

by nekokoban



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012), The Sandman
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-04
Updated: 2013-01-04
Packaged: 2017-11-23 14:48:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/623346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekokoban/pseuds/nekokoban
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the boy falls through the ice, she is there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	that which rises

When the boy falls through the ice, she is there.

Not for long, though. In the next village over there is an old woman whose heart is gently failing; its faltering beats become her countdown. But she has the time, and the boy is there, and he is alone. His sister has fled in tears, leaving him to sink gently in her arms.

He's not so very old -- they rarely are, in this time. In just a hundred more years, there will be such advances that deaths at his age will become the exception and not the rule, but that is not now. What matters is that he _is_ young, so she folds him in her arms and runs her fingers through his hair slowly, gently, the way his mother does. The way she did.

(In the following years she will still touch her remaining child with gentleness, but it will be haunted by his memory even after he has long left them behind. It is something she will take to the grave, to sob and rail against even as great wings surround her.)

He opens his eyes. They aren't all blue yet; there's still too much of the mortal brown in them, but they are being bleached slowly by the moonlight. He looks at her with wide-eyed wonder and he smiles. It is like the song of the stars.

"Did you see that? Did you see? I did it, I said I would--"

"Yeah," she says, for a moment letting the colloquialism slip; he doesn't even notice, too elated with his success. "You did good, Jackson."

At the sound of his name, his head snaps around to her. To his credit, he holds his elation for a nearly a full minute, and then it seems to sink in (just like his body is sinking, just like they both sink, towards the murky depths of this small pond). "Hey-- but--"

"You were really brave," she tells him. "A real hero."

His smile fades entirely. His eyes go to the mark at the corner of her eye, at the symbol that hangs at her throat, and he shifts clumsily (still in her arms, still a child) to try and cross himself. She lets go of him and takes his hands with hers.

"You did good, and you'll be even better in the future," she tells him. "You've got a lot ahead of you, but I know you'll be able to handle it. You're a good kid."

Jackson's ( _Jack_ , she hears the insistence he doesn't make) brow furrows. "But you're--"

He trails off and instead watches the bubbles that rise up around them instead. There is no rage or resentment in him, unlike so many she has taken, is taking, will take. His eyes move up to the moon. There is less brown in them now. In another minute that color will be gone entirely, and she will have to be on her way.

"I am," she agrees. "But it's not time for you yet."

His whole body jerks at that, as if she'd struck him. He turns beseeching eyes to her. "But, wasn't I good?" he asks. There is a desperation in his voice that breaks her heart just a little, just as they always break her heart that tiny bit. "I saved her, I did the right thing, even if I didn't have any last confessions, I'm not--"

She hushes him, putting a finger to his lips. "It's not that," she says. "It's just that it's not your time to go with me yet. Destiny has a different path for you."

The color is leeching from his hair as she watches. The old woman's heart is shuddering now, skipping beats, coming uneven and weak.

"But," he says and bites his lip. He is so very young. He clutches at her wrist; there is some recognition in his face now. It takes time, but in the end, everyone remembers her face. "If you're leaving me here, will I ever see you again?"

"Oh," she says, and "oh, Jackson. Sweetheart. Don't worry. There's so much waiting for you, and even I can't do anything to change that. You'll be a hero to more than just your sister. Don't tell anyone I let that slip, though! But you'll see. You've got many miles to go.

"But when you're done ..." She lets go of him and he lets go of her in the same second. His hair is now completely white; his eyes are entirely blue. "... Then I'll be there to bring you home."

There are other things he wants to ask, she knows; she can see it in his eyes. But the life is returning to him and he is slipping from her grasp. She lets him go without rancor or anger. It's nice to see people get a second chance, sometimes.

In the water, it is dark and it is cold; it might even be frightening.

But she watches the light of the moon envelop the boy and raise him up, and she smiles.

"See you later, Jackson," she says, and then she, too, is gone.

**Author's Note:**

> When in doubt for a new fandom, write a Sandman crossover, I guess. '-'
> 
> [And now also with art that I made eyes at my friend pie to make.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/3c818f00ff0641fd77f7458f95e05c69/tumblr_mg3u094OfX1rrg9yno1_1280.png) 'w'


End file.
